Team Seven Gaiden
by seventhstand
Summary: Sasuke's absence has caused a lot of hardship on those who could once claim to be near and dear to him. His daughter, wife and even best friend are beginning new adventures of their own. All centered or triggered by the last remaining pure blooded Uchiha. [[Story begins after the end of Naruto Gaiden Chapter 1 and will continue on a non-canon basis.]]
1. Chapter 1 - Uchiha Sakura

Author's Note: obviously, I don't own Naruto or Naruto Gaiden nor am I claiming to know what the plot will entail for the rest of Gaiden. These are just short chapters to show what I feel could happen and in some cases probably should happen. Reviews are always welcome, as I'm always trying to improve. Enjoy!

The sharp, almost piercing sound of heart rates displayed on a monitor is the only sound to fill the white walls of her hospital room.

"S... suke..."

The sound grows louder in her semi-conscious mind, only adding to the panic she felt within her dreams.

"Sasu... da..."

"Sarada!"

Jade eyes tear themselves open and up she sits, bed creaking while the sound of her heart, amplified by her eager senses, steadily brings her back to reality. A few moments of white noise before her head falls forward into her hands. The last thing she remembered was her home crumbling, remembering what that meant for her finances.

Then blackness.

That'd been during the day. It hadn't been much past three, which was the normal time she expected Sarada home. When her daughter had shown up, she immediately began to dig at her with questions she herself hardly knew the answers to. Something she'd been doing a lot more of recently.

"Where did dad go?"

"When is he coming home?"

"Will he ever come home?"

"Are you even his wife?"

That struck a chord just as it had in her front yard. Half-way feeling the urge to grab hold of her heart to keep it from detaching from her ribcage. Of course Sakura was married to Sasuke. She had the documents to prove it, she remembered the day clearly and there certainly wasn't any question it'd been real. It hadn't been a dream. She'd been happy.

Hadn't she?

Of course she was!

She was being married to the boy, no, the man she'd been pursuing for as long as she could remember. She loved Sasuke. She still loved him to the day. That didn't mean she couldn't be furious.

Her thin fingers slowly curl into fists, allowing the thread of sheets to move with the motion until her shaking, balled up hands rest on the top of her legs over the blanket. He'd abandoned her.

He'd abandoned them.

The idea, rather the memory of his final words to her had begun bringing her blood to a boil. He leaves them for as long as he has, close to thirteen years now, and the last thing he'd said, with that same blank expression he always had was "I'll see you when I get back."

The words, even in her mind, sent shivers down her back and brought goosebumps to the surface of her light colored skin. Turning her head to look over the small rises on her body, she's reminded just how pale she was. Once Sarada had started questioning her in regular fashion, the dark thoughts that often stuck with her in bed at night became that much more common. She wasn't able to get away from them because of her daughter.

None of the blame was placed on the young child though, and it never would be. She had full right to her inquisitions and they were very pressing matters. The truth was, it was Sakura herself who almost didn't want answers.

"Where did dad go?"

Probably off somewhere with Taka.

"When is he coming home?"

She didn't know.

"Will he ever come home?"

She didn't know, though she said she did.

"Are you even his wife?"

Yes. She was. Did he love her?

She hadn't the slightest clue and it made her ill.

Her chest started to ache again. It felt like something similar to a fire in her heart and it was only growing worse the deeper she allowed herself to fall into her thoughts.

She sunk further and further, deeper into the darkness of her emotions as well as the night. She was broken, and thinking about Sasuke only made it worse. Her eyes start to sting with the familiar tingle of tears just before they began to fall. She stops herself, clenching her lids closed and biting her lip until it nearly bled.

She couldn't cry. She wouldn't. She was an adult now and had been one for quite some time. She shakes it as best she can, glossy eyes opening to look down toward her hands again. She noticed a single droplet dotting her knuckle and wipes it away. She was fine, and she would convince herself of that like she always did when she got like this.

Rarely did things ever get so bad. Rarely would she stay awake at night, laying on her side, staring at the one picture she had of herself and her long-lost husband. Rarely would she let herself wallow in self-pity and sob.

She doesn't remember how long she sat there. It must have been several minutes of just staring at her knuckles, mindlessly running her fingers over each other, biding time till morning so she could be discharged.

How embarrassing, to be laid up in the hospital for such a silly reason.

She was so distracted, so deep in her own mind she doesn't hear the door slide open. She does, however, hear the sound of that familiar rasp.

"Oi... You're awake..."

Her breath rushes from her, through her mouth in a grunt of shock. It was way too late for visitors. There he stood anyway.

"Naruto..."

The first thing she notices once she settles, is the lack of a Hokage cloak on her friend's shoulders, how it was draped over one of the two chairs. Second, he's holding cup ramen. She sat for a moment, still coming down from the "thrill" of someone seeming to appear next to her, but once she does relax she realizes something. Her teammate, through everything he'd undergone in the last several years, really hadn't changed too much. These new, incredible pieces of technology called "vending machines" had been invented mere months ago and she could swear Naruto himself was providing the payment for the mass import of them, unintentionally just through constant purchasing of their contents. "What are you doing here...? It's late."

"I should ask you the same thing, -ttebayo..."

"I'm here because I'm actually considered a patient, idiot."

"No, I meant, I should be asking you what put you in here."

Hostile though their words may seem, in actuality they pair couldn't get much closer. Nor could they be any more lighthearted in the tone they use. The man's cup was empty, and appeared to have been for quite a while, which is why he quickly discards it before taking a seat on the right edge of her appointed bed. "Shizune told me you passed out, but that was all she would say. And Sarada seemed a bit too anxious so I didn't want to-"

"Sarada!"

"... Went home with Ino. Shizune and your daughter worked it all out. She'll come by tomorrow morning before her class starts."

His hand lifts up, wrapped tightly as it always was with an open palm to try and calm his friend. "Take it easy for a little bit, huh?..."

A soft groan of distaste, sitting back, having lunged up at the thought of her poor daughter. She'd fainted and left a twelve year old to take care of herself after her home was destroyed by her own hand. What a mother she had turned out to be.

"You sure Hinata doesn't mind you being out so late?"

"You serious?... She was the one who said I should come."

Cerulean eyes observe her face. The way her lip stuck out made it seem like her actual features were secondary to the emphasis on her mouth. He still wasn't used to this, he hadn't had the time to spend to adjust. Sakura looked so worn down. She had the slightest of bags, her expression wasn't nearly as bright as he could remember and more importantly, the dullness of her eyes screamed discomfort and uncertainty.

He'd seen her disheartened and hurt, but never so worn.

He keeps his loud mouth shut for as long as he can stand it before he speaks up again. "Don't worry about the house. I'll get your loans paid for and have it rebuilt before too long. Until then you might wanna stay at Ino's or I'm sure Hinata wouldn't mind straightening up the guest room... Or maybe..."

"I couldn't ask your or Hinata to do that..." She cuts him off.

"You've done more than enough for us as it is. Don't worry about us. We'll make it work."

She tries to smile, but it comes across cracked and sad. "We always do."

He could physically feel his heart twist. How long had she been dealing with this? How long had the Teme been gone? He remembered him being there at Sarada's birth, as was most of the village. The first Uchiha in ages was quite the occasion. People had crowded the hospital room's door and Naruto himself had been forced to order them all away. That had been the last he'd seen of Sasuke and his absence felt more impactful then he could remember his presence feeling.

He tried his best to rationalize Sasuke's leaving. He truly did. The first year, he understood needing time away. The second, maybe he had gotten wrapped up in seeing everything. But it just continued to get worse.

It continued to become harder to understand.

It continued to fuel his emotion. What had began as simple disappointment quickly became anger. Even thinking about it brought a blaze to his chest and heat to his face. How dare he. How dare he put his best friend, wife, child, entire village through so much only to turn right round and leave with hardly a week's notice.

His shaking hands try to hide by finding their way into his pockets. Even if he didn't want to talk about Sasuke, he figured it was something Sakura needed, which is why he's the first to speak.

"Has he written anything?..."

She doesn't even verbally respond out of fear of her voice showing weakness, opting to shake her head instead.

His fists tighten in his jacket.

"Has... Sarada been asking about him?..."

She nods this time.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

There isn't a response at all. She bites her pouting lip, rolling it back and letting it fall behind the top just slightly. She could feel her eyes dampening again. If she wouldn't cry alone, she damn sure wasn't going to in front of Naruto.

He can see it, though she tries disguising it. She's hurting. His eyes roll with his head and look back toward his feet. Maybe he could help. Changing topics seemed logical.

"Your hair's getting longer."

"H... Huh?"

"You know, that thing on your head? That big clump of stringy stuff?"

"I know what hair is, you ass."

His eyes widen, as if to mock her, wide and curious as he mimics her response, "H... Huh?"

"Shut up!"

Even in her distress she still has the energy to kick her leg, catching Naruto's hip and pushing him away in the midst of his teasing. Her action is met with childish laughter, rolling with the "blow" and sitting back up, unmoved with the push of her foot.

"... Your's keeps getting shorter it seems..."

"Does it?"

What little hair he has is flattened under his hand. He didn't think he could cut it much shorter than it was without going completely bald.

He toys with the small bit he can for a moment before dropping his hand back to the bed, which allowed him to look back at Sakura again. "I'm gonna grow it back out I think."

"That so?"

Naruto seemed to have this strange affect on her. Maybe he always had and she didn't notice until it vanished. She could never be too negative while she was interacting with him. He could piss her off to the point of punching him, but there was always a sense of happiness. She never felt a void when he was around.

"Yeah. I keep looking at it and... I dunno it just doesn't look right."

"Would that bother Hinata you think?"

"No. She said she liked it longer. You know her."

As passive as the Hyuga made Uzumaki was, her "liking" his longer hair meant she much preferred it that way. She would never come out and say it, but there was no doubt in Naruto's mind. He knew his wife well enough to understand her quirks. Being blunt had never been a part of her personality. "Plus, it'd be good to look a bit more like my Hokage head. I actually had some council member ask me 'what happened to the seventh'."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah! I didn't think it was that drastic..."

"Maybe you should start wearing your headband again."

"... Yeah!... Yeah, I should. Well, after it grows out. I've tried that already and I had to take it off because of how weird it looked."

It was Sakura's turn to have a laugh. The image of a disgusted Naruto almost ripping his headband off brought joy when she couldn't feel much of anything. She notices how the blonde man falls silent, though only for a second. She swears she can see his ears twitch, like some animal being alerted, but it's played off and so she chooses to ignore it. Probably just one of the nurse's walking through the halls. Maybe he didn't like that she was cracking up over his appearance.

She too quiets down, letting her gaze fall back into her hands and for the first time that night, sitting with a smile. An honest one.

"You should come around more often, you know."

"Awe. Is someone getting sentimental?"

"Oh, get over yourself. Being Hokage doesn't mean someone can't knock you down a few pegs... I just mean we don't get to talk as much as we used to. You've been so busy and raising a daughter on your own is a job all of its own..."

"... Sakura-chan... There's something I..."

"Seriously, she is a lot more needy then you would think. She absolutely loves cherries and if there aren't any she gets really grumpy, and when she was younger she used to throw tantrums, it was something else. Were you gonna say something?"

"H... Huh?"

She mirrors Naruto's own playful jabs, making fun of the fake face she'd given him to mock her. "H... Huh?"

"Sorry!... I was gonna say, there's something I need to do back at home, so I should probably get going."

"Well... It is almost midnight so... It's probably best you get back, huh?"

"Yeah... You're right."

He was moving rather quickly, and soon he was on his feet again, pulling his Hokage cloak over his back. He walks to the door and opens it carefully, standing in the frame for a bit before turning his head over his shoulder to reassure Sakura one last time. "I'll drop by tomorrow and we can talk about floor plans or something."

"I'm still not one hundred percent behind it... But if it'll shut you up, sure... Goodnight, Naruto."

There was that smile. The one he hardly used anymore. Full of teeth and happiness. "Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

The second that door closes, however his face becomes the polar opposite to what she'd seen. His jaw is clenched, eyes at his toes and brows pushed together. His heart almost exploded, almost like the organ had to hold its own breath to keep from revealing what he knew to the mother on the other side of the thin door.

Trembling fingers drop from the indention which allowed him to slide the door, and to his side. He takes a single deep breath, through and out his nose before he turns toward the stairs. However, instead of going down, he ascends.

It's a blur, but he ends up at a door which opens to the roof, which he throws open and leaves ajar as his sandals clack across the top of the hospital. He stops at the edge, able to look over and see the lights of the city in the distance. A sign of the new era. Normally, the sight would relax him. Coax him to sleep sometimes.

But right now he was far too angry.

Shaking digits wrap inward into the tightest fist his trembling would allow. Tight enough to force trails of blood to trace down the creases between his fingers on his normal hand.

Nothing could calm him. Other than confronting the source of his fury.

"I seriously... Ought to beat your ass..."

His neck twists again, brows arched downward, usually casual blue filled with what could almost be called hatred. That gaze meets who stands behind him. The person who had been following him since he left Sakura. He could only see one of the opposite figure's eyes, the other hidden. The one he knew too well and yet no longer knew at all.

"You've got some serious fuckin' balls...

... Sasuke."


	2. Chapter 2 - Uchiha Sasuke

Quick Author's Note: Sorry this took so much longer than I said it would! Inbox me or leave your reviews for me! I'm always looking to get better. uwu

"... How fucking dare you."

The grit of Naruto's own teeth felt like it would force his molars to give way and bite through his own jaw. The blood running down his hand dripped onto the top of Konoha's hospital roof. He'd finally turned around completely, staring straight at Sasuke's disgustingly emotionless face. He wanted to bust his former teammate's lip just for the sake of getting something out of him. "You think you can just show back up...?"

"No."

"Then what the fuck do you think you're doing here, Teme?!"

He couldn't control his words or tone of voice anymore. Every fiber of his body and every bit of his will struggled to hold himself back. If they let go for even a second Naruto almost feared what he would do. Which is why, as quick as he can, Naruto forces himself to relax even if it was the slightest bit. He'd been so angry for so long. At least with Nagato, his anger was short lived. With Sasuke though, his bitterness had the time to build to the point he couldn't sleep some nights.

Still nothing from Sasuke's end.

He looked so calm and collected that it pissed Naruto off even more. How could he be so casual?

How could he be acting like his old self?

"Answer me!"

"I didn't plan on actually seeing Sakura or my daughter-"

"What did you forget her name?!"

"I simply wanted to make sure they were living well."

"You've been gone for thirteen fucking years and you aren't even gonna call her by her name?!"

Naruto's foul language, which he'd learned to dial back for the sake of meetings with Elders or other higher ups, returned in full force. He couldn't hold anything back other than his own body, and even that was difficult. Which is why his words would do the beating for him.

At least he can see Sasuke blink.

"... I haven't come back to visit. I just wanted to make sure that Sarada-"

"Is alive? Not homeless? Happy?!"

"Was growing up as best she can."

A single click of Naruto's sandal, unable to keep his feet in place. The more Sasuke spoke, the closer Naruto came to punching him square in the face. He does his best to reel himself in, and settles. At least to the point he can speak again. "She doesn't have much more growing up to do, asshole. She graduates next week."

Then something hit Naruto.

"Is that why you're here? Is she valuable to you now that she's almost a ninja?!"

Sasuke falls completely silent, and Naruto starts to tremble again. They had worked for so long. Sasuke used to spout words of revolution. Of changing the Shinobi system and yet there he was continuing to support the stereotype that people in their world are meaningless without strength. His stained hand opens quickly, flexing his digits, allowing actual blood to flow to his fingertips rather than out of the deep marks his nails had left in his palm.

"It's important that Sarada understands her family history. It's important that she understands what she has in her."

"Wha...? What are you talking about?!"

"She's an Uchiha and I can't let her potential be wasted."

"Are you fuckin' serious?!... Who... Who are you?"

His fist is suddenly clenched again, feeling his frame starting to quake at the mention of Sarada. She wasn't Naruto's daughter. Had no blood relation. Yet he couldn't help feeling tied to the young heiress. He knew what it was like to be fatherless.

He wished her own father felt the same way.

"It's what's best for her."

"Don't act like you know what she needs! Needing a father and needing training are two completely different things!"

His teeth sink quietly into his lip and he allows silence for a few seconds, almost hoping it sinks in through Sasuke's demeanor. When he realizes it isn't, his head lifts and he spits his words toward him again. "Why?... What was so important you could willing leave your wife and child behind for so long?"

Why was he so angry?

This wasn't his family. Sarada wasn't his daughter, Sakura was a good friend, but that was the extent of it. The questions he asked and answers he demanded seemed much more fitting to come to and from Sakura herself.

He had family issues of his own, but none of that mattered in his current situation..

He knew what Sarada was enduring and the notion she was being forced through it all reminded him of himself. He knew it hurt. He also knew her father wasn't trying to fix it.

That's why his blood boiled.

His last question did seem to strike something in Sasuke, however. Naruto can, at least, see the Uchiha's jaw clench. Maybe he had been getting through. Maybe he could continue to pry deeper into the man's mind. "... Answer me, Teme!"

"The bottom line is, I don't owe you answers, Naruto."

That tore it.

Naruto's eyes seemed to flare. His bandaged hand lifts up and fires off with a fierce determination and swift speed that only Sasuke could've seen coming.

He had expected it the moment he chose his response.

Sasuke's own wrapped arm comes up, palm open and receives the hit. Though his face didn't change from that snarky, critical expression, Naruto's sheer force did cause a bit of a stagger in his formation. A click of his shoes to mirror Naruto's earlier one before he regains his composure and speaks again. "... That doesn't mean I wouldn't speak anyway."

Dark black eyes meet Naruto's bright blue and Sasuke can't help the twinge in his chest. He had always been able to read the Hokage like a book. Naruto wasn't himself anymore. He was angry. Anger wasn't something Sasuke had never seen from the blonde, in fact it was quite common in their younger years.

He'd never seen him so hateful toward himself.

As thick as his skin was, and as emotionally plain as he liked to appear, he couldn't deny that it hurt deep down.

It was at this point he realized just how badly Naruto was shaking. He could see it in the way his teeth were bearing and the tight grip he had on his fake fingers only served as more evidence toward Naruto's mindset.

Slowly, he releases his hand and Naruto himself, satisfied with just being able to hear and potentially understand, stands up again. "They are better off without me, Naruto."

"That's horseshit."

"Is it...? How am I supposed to face the woman I tried to kill on multiple occasions and smile in her face when in reality all I can see is the look she had when I almost took her life?"

For the first time that evening, Naruto's tongue feels tied.

"How am I supposed to explain it to Sarada, for that matter? She would hate me as it is, having been out of her life for so long. She doesn't need any more grief in her life that's centered around me."

"There wouldn't be any grief in the first place if you had just been there!"

"You know there would have. I can't even look Sakura in the eyes. You don't think she would've picked up on that? Do you honestly think Sakura and I could have stayed together all those years? Call it selfish, because it is, but I can't bear that. It makes me sick the way she would look at me. How she idolized me. I don't deserve any of that and I never will. Not from her."

"And that's what kept you on the road for thirteen years?... Your own little pity party?!"

Black eyes drop to the hand again, seeing it shuddering again.

"That's why you let your wife sob at night? That's why you let your daughter grow up without a father?!"

"Naru-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

As if on cue, the wind picks up and the Seventh's cloak starts flowing with the natural push. Sasuke's eyes finally show his human half. They widen when they meet the suddenly crimson irises of his old friend.

"That self-entitlement bullshit is really making me angry! Once you have a family, one you chose to create, you don't get to be so selfish! You of all people should understand what it's like not having your father around!"

Naruto's eyes weren't as sharp as Sasuke's.

There's a loud clap.

The sound of Sasuke's fist meeting Naruto's jaw.

Naruto falls back at that, head twisted just how the hit had left it. His eyes narrow at the ground before lifting up and meet Sasuke's again. He notices the one sharingan he had. The eye behind his hair must've been glowing in the same fashion.

"Don't ever talk about my family like you've got some divine right to judge."

Naruto straightens his back and stares directly into the eyes that used to strike fear into him. The eyes he felt so bitter toward.

"You are the last person who can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Or have you already forgotten about the 'family' you had."

Sasuke had endured as much as he could. It was his turn to tear into the man across from him. "That family that decided to get up and leave because you were so busy with the business of others."

The black whiskers along Naruto's cheeks started to thicken.

"The family who grew tired of your hypocritical judgements and 'life lessons'."

His canines grew sharper.

"The wife who finally told you 'enough is enough'."

Brows push together again. His face is so tight, and the fury in his heart pumped blood into his face, feeling the veins in his neck and head begin to show.

"The public you won't even address or inform because it'll ruin the image this village has of you."

The long, sharp nails dug deeper into Naruto's own hand. His stomach twists and his head whirls.

"The children you left behind because your work was too important."

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"

Sasuke knew what he'd done. He knew Naruto was bound to move. He just forgot how fast he actually was.

He can feel the blood vessels in his lips practically combust with Naruto's punch. Bloodied fist made contact with his face, more specifically, his mouth. As a bit of an added 'fuck you', the force he'd been struck with wasn't just that of Naruto's. It was a combination of Naruto, Kurama's chakra and the surrounding natural energy.

He tumbles backward, skillfully finding his way back to his feet before he completely stops. A cough, and a wipe of his lip as he stands up, looking down at the blood that had formed on his face and ended up on the back of his hand.

"We aren't doing this here, Teme."

Sasuke doesn't respond with words, simply staring directly into the crosses that had become Naruto's pupils. It was also Sasuke's turn to shake. He trembles with both anger and a bit of a sickening thrill. The comment of his father hit hard and he had to be sure to pay Naruto back for it.

Two fingers lift on the blonde's "human" hand, arm extending toward the Raven.

"Two rules. If I win, you come home and you fucking stay home."

"... And?"

"If I lose, you're free to go. I won't come after you. I won't send anyone after you. You can continue your little 'redemption roadtrip' and stay on it as long as you wish."

And even in a moment like this. One so tense and full of pent up anger, their friendship, the memories of old days can't help spilling through.

Naruto speaks first, "Same place same time?..."

"... Yeah."

"You've got a week. You might want to cut the hair out of your eyes, Teme."

"If you don't show up, I'm going to assume you forfeit. So be ready, idiot."

"I plan on it."

And just like that, like a flip of a switch, Sasuke seems to almost vanish from the visible world. There's no better word for it than teleportation.

It was strange. How punching the asshole in the face could relieve so much pressure.

"... Naruto..."

His head turns. He knows the voice that called him.

He knew Sakura's voice above most else's.

The tear trails on her face is worse than any piercing from Sasuke's sword.

"I'm going with you."


End file.
